Urban teachers are fleeing urban schools in large numbers for positions that offer safety, support, security, autonomy, respect, higher pay, and freedom from managing disruptive student behaviors and attitudes that are products of the community's social problems. Efforts to retain experienced teachers in urban districts are crucial to the success…

This national study used the Delphi technique to identify the issues facing urban agriscience teachers. The first round of the study used a questionnaire with one open-ended question to generate responses from the expert panel. In the second round, respondents were asked to rate their level of agreement with 72 issues identified in round one using…

Alternative certification programs are changing the face of the teaching profession. Not only have these programs attracted individuals from different disciplines and educational backgrounds, they have also changed the ethnic and gender makeup of the classroom teaching population. This suggests an increase in point-of-view diversity in the…

Multiple studies explore the issue of the absence of teachers of color in the profession at large. Few studies, however, address the issue from the angle of the teacher candidate of color. With so many competing professions, why do they ultimately make the decision to join the profession? What are the contexts that influence and support that…

The complexity of urban contexts is often subsumed into generalizations and deficit assumptions of urban communities and its members by those unfamiliar with urban culture. This is especially true for teachers seeking work in urban schools. This article addresses the complex interpretations of urban through the lens of a White male graduate…

A primary purpose of teacher education is to prepare and induct candidates into the teaching profession. What does it mean to be a professional educator? Is deep content knowledge really enough as the federal government and others suggest? Does professionalism look different in urban contexts? How do teachers learn to navigate the multiple…

The combined goals of recruiting and retaining effective teachers are often difficult to realize due to fluctuating student enrollments and class-size targets, teaching-load norms or requirements, and budgetary and resource constraints. While schools and districts market and recruit bright new teachers to the field, they too, struggle to maintain…

This article describes a paid field experience designed to investigate teacher candidates' willingness to teach in urban schools. Seventy-three teacher candidates each participated in an urban field experience including 90 hours of tutoring and 12 hours of training. Data from pre and post surveys indicated no significant difference as the number…

Project-based science (PBS) curricula have project- and inquiry-based aspects that leverage the strengths of urban students from ethnic and racial groups underrepresented in science careers, potentially impacting positively these students' science achievement and attitudes and thus their college and career plans. We aimed to determine the extent…

The author reports on research conducted of teachers and their instruction in a US urban public school, with narrative and counter-narrative employed as analytic tools. Central questions guiding the study included: How do teachers' counter-narratives and experiences influence them in their urban school classrooms? How do teachers' multiple and…

Few current definitions and assessments of teacher "quality" have considered the social justice-oriented characteristics the authors consider most important in their work with future city teachers. This paper describes the masters licensure program with which the authors are involved, the portfolio assessment system this program utilizes to…

Behavior management or discipline of students in schools has consistently been reported as one of the major hindrances to educational success in the public schools in the United States. Teachers are often taught behavior management strategies such as establishing rules, routines, and expectations. Other proactive and reactive approaches to…

How can we better educate disadvantaged urban students? Drawing on over five years' experience in a broad partnership involving twelve urban professional development schools in five districts, a teachers' union, a comprehensive public university, and several community-based organizations, the contributors to this volume describe how they worked…

Watts, Williams, and Jagers (2003) define critical consciousness as an awareness of existing social inequities and their history, including the processes and outcomes of oppression. Many scholars and reformers are asking secondary-level educators to deepen the critical consciousness of their teenage students by teaching them about ways in which…

The potential of drawing from urban youth culture, and hip-hop more specifically, to serve as a bridge to the standard curriculum has been well documented. However, the richness and potential benefits of hip-hop are more far-reaching and present significant implications for teacher education and professional development efforts as well. This…